


The Daughters of Hope

by apple_pi



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Multi, Season/Series 04, team fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-12
Updated: 2010-02-12
Packaged: 2017-10-07 05:12:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/61748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apple_pi/pseuds/apple_pi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Teyla told the team about her pregnancy during a movie night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Daughters of Hope

**Author's Note:**

  * For [my dear friend Mira.](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=my+dear+friend+Mira.).



> Hi! This is a story about Teyla giving birth. If that grosses you out, uh, skip the last few sections (also: emetophobes beware). You should be safe for a while up until then, unless the word "cervix" scares you. In which case: CERVIX! CERVIX! CERVIX!
> 
> There, you're cured.
> 
> I get so irritated by birth scenes on television and in movies, I thought I would write my own Teyla-gives-birth story before the powers that be come along and give the lie to every wish I have. I'm not an expert, but I have two kids and I've trained and served as a doula (labor coach) at three births. I drew largely from my own birth experiences for this, although I had a husband, a doula and a midwife at my second birth, not three nervous male teammates and a midwife. :-)
> 
> This has since been jossed, but not as horribly as I'd feared, and I still like my wee AU version.

Teyla told the team about her pregnancy during a movie night. They were watching "How I Met Your Mother" for a change from bad scifi (John and Rodney) or action adventure (Teyla and Ronon's choice). (Ronon was a big fan of the slap bet, and had needed to be sternly lectured about initiating slap bets among the marines he trained; Rodney had ordered him a "Slap Bet Commissioner" t-shirt and was just waiting for Ret Lyaal, the Satedan version of yuletide, to roll around.)

Right after the episode where Barney explained the "Crazy-Hot" dichotomy (and thanks to Jeannie's ability to compress streaming video using Rodney's algorithms, they were only a few episodes behind CBS on Earth), they took a break. John got up to make more popcorn, and Ronon immediately stretched out on the couch, taking up all the vacated space. Rodney, who had just started moving to claim it himself and leave behind the Uncomfy Chair of Uncomfortableness ("What?" he said when they all looked at him, right after he named it, four years ago), collapsed back into the chair and began complaining about his back again. (He just wanted Ronon to give him a neck rub. Everyone knew it.)

Teyla got up to use the toilet; she'd found that her bladder filled more quickly lately, although the only real outward signs of the pregnancy were a thickening of her waist and truly spectacular (even moreso than usual) cleavage.

When she came back, Rodney was slumped on the floor in front of the couch; Ronon was rubbing his shoulders as Rodney made noises that were probably incredibly inappropriate. (He didn't care.) Teyla settled herself on the chaise longue she had claimed early on in Movie Night history, and when John came back with two big bowls of popcorn, she took one from him with a smile.

Once everyone was seated once more, John reached for the remote control.

"One moment, please," Teyla said.

They all looked at her.

"I have some news. Personal news," she added, and saw immediate speculation begin on their faces. John, at least, had the grace to look slightly worried; Ronon and Rodney were both obviously calculating which marine she had begun dating.

Teyla sighed internally. "I am with child," she said. "All right, you may start the iPod once more, John."

"I - what?" John said.

"You're _what?_" Rodney said.

"I'll kill him," Ronon said.

Teyla gave them all some version of The Look. Things went uphill from that point on.

(Rodney later told her it was an awesome Look, and she'd be a good mom. Teyla was touched, and only gave him three new bruises at that martial arts practice session.)

*

What with one thing and another, seven months passed.

*

Teyla went into labor on a Tuesday night.

Well, she thought it was labor - probably it was. She'd been having contractions for a while at that point, but these seemed more intense somehow. She didn't say anything, though; it didn't feel too urgent, and she could still talk through the contractions. And it wasn't like she had been sleeping well, anyway. So she dozed and tossed and turned through the night, and the contractions stayed anywhere from five to ten minutes apart.

"I believe I am in labor," she said at the Wednesday morning team meeting with Sam. "Although my water has not yet broken, I am experiencing contractions that are quite noticeable."

Sam looked slightly concerned. "Are you okay?" she asked. John had pushed back from the table and had his head between his knees; Rodney looked pale but resolute. Ronon leaned further back in his chair, as though childbirth might be contagious. Or as though he was still thinking about breakfast.

"I am fine," Teyla said. "I have an appointment with Dr. Keller later this morning; perhaps she can tell me if I have dilated during the night."

Rodney squinted at her. "You want to avoid too many cervical checks," he said. "It can introduce infection."

John lifted his head. "She said her water hasn't broken yet," he snapped. "Dumbass."

Rodney looked offended. "There is absolutely no clinical evidence that knowing how dilated _or_ effaced she is will affect the speed of labor," he shot back. "Attempting to predict the length of labor according to cervical dilation this early _particularly_ is more often harmful than not, since it can lead to false expectations which most often result in unnecessary medical management to meet some kind of pie-in-the-sky ideal labor standard which has absolutely no application to an actual woman, giving actual birth."

"If Teyla wants to know how dilated she is," John started to say; Ronon reached over and slapped the back of his head.

"Shut up," Ronon said. "She's having a contraction."

"I am fine," Teyla repeated, but it was true - she was experiencing a contraction. The feeling began deep, down between her legs, and spread upward over her belly, hardening the round bulge of it. She sucked in a breath as the muscles tightened. "You may continue to argue if you wish," she said breathlessly.

"Okay," Sam said, "I think we can safely postpone the mission to see the Madenans, right?" She raised an eyebrow at Teyla.

Teyla nodded.

*

What with one thing and another, fourteen hours passed.

*

"Do you want me to call Marie?" Rodney asked. "How are you feeling? Do you want some water? Do you need to pee? Keller said you should pee every hour, and it's been 54 minutes since you used the bathroom."

"Rodney," Teyla said. She was squatting beside the low bed, forehead resting against the side, breathing slow and steady.

"Less choices," Ronon said. "You're not supposed to be asking her stupid stuff."

"I think we should call Marie," Rodney said.

John leaned over. "Hey Teyla, what's the difference between my guitar and an onion?"

Teyla blew out a long breath and turned narrow eyes on him. "John Sheppard, I am not in the mood."

John straightened. "Okay, I'm calling Marie." He tapped his earpiece. "Hey, it's John. She's not laughing at my jokes anymore, and the shower seems to have gotten things going faster. Also, I think if I try to tell another joke she's going to castrate me."

There was a thin reply through the earpiece, and John said, "Okay, thanks" before tapping it to silence again. "She's on her way."

"What is the difference?" Rodney asked.

"What?" John flopped down on the floor beside Teyla and offered her a sip of water. She took it gratefully.

"Between your guitar and an onion," Ronon said.

"Oh." John pointed at the big rubber ball in the corner; Ronon rolled it over and both of them helped Teyla stand and stretch, then sit on the ball, still leaning against the bed. "No one cries when my guitar gets chopped up."

Teyla didn't smile, but Rodney and Ronon both smirked.

*

What with one thing another, three hours passed.

*

Marie the Nurse, it had turned out, was also Marie the Midwife. A handy skill to have on the expedition, although Teyla's was the first baby to be born within the city. Teyla had chosen to give birth in her quarters, with her team surrounding her and Marie to provide any necessary medical backup and actually catch the baby. Not to mention ordering John, Rodney and Ronon around as necessary.

"Hold the basin steady," Marie said when Teyla threw up, and Rodney held it steady, looking green himself as Teyla retched, producing water and a little bile. The vomiting was forgotten a few minutes later, though, and Rodney took the container to the bathroom as Teyla went back to rocking on her hands and knees, humming to herself, the quiet noises becoming deeper and more intense as the powerful contractions of her transition to full dilation shook her body.

"Don't change directions," Marie said when John was rubbing Teyla's bare back in hard, small circles. (She'd declared, some hours ago, that she did _not_ want any clothing on, and stripped completely as the men blushed furiously.) John paused for just a second and then went back to rubbing counterclockwise.

"Look into her eyes," Marie ordered, and Ronon stayed where he was and looked right into Teyla's eyes as she whimpered, hummed, and moaned her way through another strong contraction.

*

What with one thing and another, an hour passed.

*

"I need to push," Teyla said, struggling to move.

They helped her change positions; she ended up squatting, Ronon kneeling behind her and supporting her body as Rodney took his turn staring into her eyes and John clutched her hand, counting with Marie.

"Remember your yoga," Marie said; Teyla nodded, distracted, and pulled her hand up (John's with it) to push her straggling, sweat-damp hair from her eyes. "John," Marie said, and John used his free hand to tuck Teyla's hair behind her ears.

"Now, now, now," Teyla said, and, closing her eyes, bore down hard.

*

What with one thing and another, 30 minutes passed.

*

"Oh my god," Rodney said, over and over, "oh my god, oh my god, that's - amazing. Oh my god."

"Wow," John said faintly.

Ronon's arms were warm and firm around her, holding her tightly, easing her down until she was lying half-reclined against him, Marie still busy between her legs, smiling and cleaning her, a hoarse, quiet cry coming from the babe lying on Teyla's breast.

"Oh, hush, little one," Teyla crooned, blinking away tears, looking down at her child and cradling her close. The baby quieted, staring up at her, blood- and vernix-smeared, thick dark hair plastered to a strangely shaped skull. "Welcome, welcome to the world." Teyla smiled at her daughter.

"Oh my god," Rodney said quietly, and she did not know which teammate moved first, but they all leaned over her, foreheads against her head, breath warm and tender against her skin. "Good job," John said, and Rodney nodded against her temple, dumbly; Ronon's arms tightened briefly.

"All right, Teyla," Marie said, flash of a smile and blood-stained hands in the bright light of the one lamp, focused away down there, where all the action had happened so very recently. "Would you like to try and latch her on for the first time? I think you're about ready to deliver the placenta, and breastfeeding can help that along."

The others drew back a little; Teyla, still smiling, took a deep breath and nodded. She shifted the baby into the crook of her arm and offered the nipple for the first time.

Their work wasn't finished, yet.

*

What with one thing and another, a few years passed. Happily.

~*~

 

 

 

If you are interested in reading about natural childbirth, medical management of births and the many safe options spanning the range of those two choices, I recommend [Gentle Birth Choices](http://www.amazon.com/Gentle-Birth-Choices-Barbara-Harper/dp/1594770670/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195276681&sr=8-1) by Barbara Harper and [The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth](http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Womans-Guide-Better-Birth/dp/0399525173/ref=pd_bbs_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195276681&sr=8-3), by Henci Goer (or [Obstetric Myths versus Research Realities](http://www.amazon.com/Obstetric-Myths-Versus-Research-Realities/dp/0897894278/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195276839&sr=1-2), also by Goer, if you would like a more clinical presentation of birth choices, including studies, abstracts and charts covering many of the common practices in America in particular).

The title comes from an Augustine quote: "Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are anger and courage; anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain the way they are." I have issues with the current American way of birth (as you may have noticed, lol). It's okay if you don't; but I have hope that things will change and women will someday have more choice than they currently do in where and how they give birth.


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